“The idea that most people do not move or are fixed at a specific location might be appealing but it is wrong. Mobility is an inherent characteristic of all populations unless specific policies or other factors are in place that limit or control that mobility.”

Authored by Prof. Ronald Skeldon, this new publication in the IOM Migration Research Series explores migration as one of the most problematic of the population variables. While reviewing the various instruments to measure international and internal migration, the research questions the tendency to consider the diverse forms of mobility separately from one another. The publication argues that human mobility is best conceived as a system that integrates internal and international migration within a single framework and that gives due account to tourism and its significant linkages with migration.

Table of contents:

Background

International migration systems

Internal migration systems

Urbanization, transitions and linkages between internal and international migration